The present invention relates to direct sales activities of all types. Direct selling is the marketing and selling of products directly to consumers away from a fixed retail location. Modern direct selling includes sales made through a party plan, one-on-one demonstrations, and other personal contact arrangements, as well as internet sales. Thus, direct sales include direct personal presentation, product demonstration, and sales of products and services to consumers, usually in their homes or at their jobs. One form of direct selling includes multi-level marketing (MLM), which is a marketing strategy in which a sales force is compensated not only for product sales they personally generate, but also for the product sales of others they recruit, thereby creating a downstream of distributors and a hierarchy of multiple levels of compensation.
There is a need to offer discounts to consumers of direct sales. Discounts can be a fundamental part of sales strategies for many goods and services. Discounts can be used by vendors to promote and increase sales of their goods and services. Further, consumers use discounts to reduce their expenditures. Discount methods include providing coupons and rebates to potential consumers, but these methods have several drawbacks, such as diminutive amounts of consumer participation and fraud. Also, advertising and marketing associated with coupons and rebates can be expensive and ineffective when disseminated via conventional methods, such as radio and television. Further, there is little or no incentive for a consumer to promote or market an advertisement or coupon to others, thereby forcing vendors to promote and market discounts to each consumer.
Another drawback of current discount techniques includes the risk taken by the vendor due to an inadequate sales volume. Usually, a merchant will offer coupons or rebates in anticipation of producing future sales at full price, repeat sales and a general increase in sales. At the end of the day, merchants cannot offer goods and services at a discount unless the merchant can ensure a minimum number of sales to justify the discount. There is currently no system to mutually satisfy a consumer with a discount and a merchant with a minimum number of sales. There is also no current system that creates an incentive for consumers to distribute the information about the discount.
Yet another drawback of current discount techniques involves credit card payment transactions in certain situations. A common problem occurs when the monetary amount that is the subject of a preliminary credit card authorization transaction subsequently changes between the time the authorization hold is placed on the cardholder's account, and when the credit card transaction is settled in a final credit card authorization transaction. This commonly occurs in situations where the final debit amount is uncertain at the time the preliminary credit card authorization transaction is executed. Problems with credit card transactions may arise, therefore, during dynamic discount programs and reduced price promotions, where prices may fluctuate in short periods of time.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for improving the problems with the prior art, and more particularly for a more efficient method and system for facilitating direct sales activities by offering consumer discounts and accepting credit card payments.